PUERTO RICO: What Other Americans Should Know.

• Author: Smith, Patricia
• Position: NATIONAL

Hurricane Maria devastated Puerto Rico. The storm's 155-mile-per-hour winds caused widespread destruction and its pounding rains caused severe flooding, knocking out the island's power and communications systems. Restoring electricity everywhere may take months. Much of the water is undrinkable, and most of the island's crops have been destroyed--a loss valued at $780 million.

Even before the storm, Puerto Rico had major problems. Its economy was so shaky that it declared bankruptcy last spring and about half a million people (about 15 percent of the current population) have moved away in the past decade. Now, some officials fear that the widespread damage will force many more Puerto Ricans to leave for the U.S. mainland, further damaging the island's economy.

The more than 3.4 million people who live in Puerto Rico are U.S. citizens, but according to a September poll, almost half of Americans don't realize that.

Here are answers to some questions you might have about Puerto Rico's place in the United States.

1 Are Puerto Ricans American citizens?

Yes. Under Section 302 of the Immigration and Nationality Act, people born in Puerto Rico have the same birthright American citizenship as people born in the 50 states.

Governor Ricardo A. Rossello of Puerto Rico emphasized this as he pleaded for more federal aid in late September.

"Puerto Rico, which is part of the United States, can turn into a humanitarian crisis," he said. "To avoid that, recognize that we Puerto Ricans are American citizens. When we speak of a catastrophe, everyone must be treated equally."

2 How did Puerto Rico become part of the U.S.?

In a nutshell, the U.S. won Puerto Rico in a war. The island became a U.S. territory as part of the Treaty of Paris, which ended the Spanish-American War in 1898. Puerto Rico had been a Spanish colony for more than 400 years, and when Spain lost the war, it was forced to cede Puerto Rico to the U.S.

3 What is Puerto Rico's relationship with the U.S. exactly?

Puerto Rico is a U.S. commonwealth. * What this means in practical terms is complicated. Most people in Puerto Rico don't pay federal income taxes, but they do pay Social Security, Medicare, import, export, and other taxes to the federal government. In fact, they contribute more than $3 billion a year to the U.S. Treasury.

Puerto Rico has a delegate in the House of Representatives who serves on and votes in committees but cannot vote on the House floor; that position is currently held by...